Refinery Coker Jet Pump Replacement

Veolia North America prepared a contingency plan for coker jet pump failure at a major refinery in Corpus Christi, and as a result, had an actionable, customer-approved standard operating procedure for responding when the refinery's pump unexpectedly stopped working.

THE CHALLENGE

For any refinery operation with a delayed coker unit, the jet pump is a critical piece of equipment that keeps the unit operational. An inherent challenge to coke cutting is that a jet pump can begin experiencing issues without notice—and can immediately begin costing a refinery hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. In February 2014, a major refinery with operations in Corpus Christi, Texas, began experiencing an issue with not creating the steam necessary to operate the turbines which power the jet pump. This customer relied on its site-based industrial cleaning team from Veolia to provide a solution.

VEOLIA’S SOLUTION

In June 2013, Veolia had worked with this refinery to prepare a contingency plan for the temporary replacement of coker jet pumps in the event of pump failure or unscheduled maintenance. Veolia worked hand-in-hand with the refinery's management team to develop standard operating procedures and a response plan that would remove the emergency factor and keep the coke cutting operation running continuously, while meeting the plant's safety standards and performance requirements.

Because Veolia had already completed this contingency plan for this customer, one call from Veolia's site-based team at the plant to the company's location in Rockdale, Texas, put the response plan in action.

In just eight hours, Veolia had mobilized its temporary coker jet pump replacement pumps and support equipment to the refinery, and arrived fully equipped with all of the necessary equipment, horsepower and manpower to support immediate operational response. Veolia provided 24/7 crew coverage and mobile, high-volume pumping units that could produce up to 5,000 horsepower, pumping water at 1,200 GPM and 5,500 PSI to keep the refinery's coker operation running continuously.

RESULT

For twelve days, Veolia's auxiliary coker jet pump solution worked around the clock to provide flow and pressure to clean the refinery's coker drums out as needed, while the customer repaired its own pump. Veolia's experienced team ran the operation and completed all twelve days of 24-hour coverage accident and incident free.

By preemptively working with Veolia, this customer had an actionable contingency plan to minimize disruptions from coker jet pump failure. Veolia's experienced team was equipped with all the necessary equipment and arrived with approved operating procedures to manage the job. As a result, the refinery avoided an emergency situation and prevented a shutdown that would have cost the company millions of dollars in downtime.

“For twelve days, Veolia's auxiliary coker jet pump solution worked around the clock to provide flow and pressure to clean the refinery's coker drums out as needed, while the customer repaired its own pump. As a result, the refinery avoided an emergency situation and prevented a shutdown that would have cost the company millions of dollars in downtime.” - Kenny Gerren, Operations Manager

CASE STUDIES

SAFETY

At Veolia, the health and safety of our employees is of foremost consideration in every project. Veolia's employee-driven safety culture is designed to prevent work-place injuries, illness and property loss. Our goal is to maintain a zero Total Recorded Incident Rate (TRIR).

To reinforce our continual focus on safety in the workplace, Veolia developed its ”Safety Metrics and Report Trending” (SMART) observation process to measure safe and at-risk behaviors and conditions. SMART tracks leading indicators for safe and at-risk behaviors in seven areas:

Personal protective equipment (PPE) usage

Use of required safety equipment and devices

Housekeeping

Ergonomics

Adherance to policies and procedures

Employee acts

Proper use of tools and equipment

Trend reports are shared with all levels of the organization and at-risk conditions and behaviors are corrected to prevent future accidents or injuries.

Case Studies

CASE STUDIES

SAFETY

At Veolia, the health and safety of our employees is of foremost consideration in every project. Veolia's employee-driven safety culture is designed to prevent work-place injuries, illness and property loss. Our goal is to maintain a zero Total Recorded Incident Rate (TRIR).

To reinforce our continual focus on safety in the workplace, Veolia developed its ”Safety Metrics and Report Trending” (SMART) observation process to measure safe and at-risk behaviors and conditions. SMART tracks leading indicators for safe and at-risk behaviors in seven areas:

Personal protective equipment (PPE) usage

Use of required safety equipment and devices

Housekeeping

Ergonomics

Adherance to policies and procedures

Employee acts

Proper use of tools and equipment

Trend reports are shared with all levels of the organization and at-risk conditions and behaviors are corrected to prevent future accidents or injuries.